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A trickle of trumpet, a spurt of sax, lots of folk-dread lyrics wrapped in the gentle plucks of an acoustic guitar: That was Dragging an Ox Through Water prior to 2008’s The Tropics of Phenomenon. Then something shifted in one-man-band Brian Mumford’s consciousness (perhaps it was his move from Eugene to Portland). Suddenly multi-instrumental folk songs weren’t quite doing it for him. A finalist for Willamette Week’s Best New Band poll in 2007, Mumford went back to the electro-noise drawing board for his new album, with groundbreaking results. Phenomenon opens with the Neutral Milk Hotel and Mount Eerie-like “I Would Understand,” a lo-fi introduction to Mumford’s newfound experiments with samples, tape hiss, homemade oscillators, bleeps, bops, coughs and squiggles. Each track on Phenomenon is like a page torn out of a frayed notebook filled with doodles, poetry and math equations. Only a single song, the flute-flitted “Dice Smiles,” breaks the four-minute mark. “Snowbank Treatment” is near-pop enough to be almost danceable while the FX-clouded folk rock of “Predictions” is like a neon tumbleweed knocked loose from NMH’s “Holland 1945.” A close friend of mine says Mumford’s earlier work “just reeks of Eugene” and speaks to the “not-small-enough town loneliness and the overwhelmingly hollow loss … among shifting configurations of affection and loyalty.” Expect a triumphant glooming sadness, beautiful, rare and utterly personal, to pervade this show. Dragging an Ox Through Water, Blast Majesty, Adventure Gallery and Firetruck play at 7 pm Friday, Jan. 16, at Wandering Goat. Free. — Chuck Adams Good Times Santa Cruz | Dragging An Ox Through Water | Mumford, Steal, Could, Underground, College
www.gtweekly.com/20090113326095/blurbs/events/drag... Braiding together acoustic songwriting with fuzzy electronic departures (he even employs undecipherable white noise and untamed squeals as he’ll leave his seat to turn knobs in prolonged, random stretches of experimentation), this Portland solo act, born as Brian Mumford, takes the off-kilter route. It can get baffling at times, sometimes leaving you wondering what just happened without enough coherence to hold you over when the unrelated tangle of effects hits. That said, Mumford could be a steal for the underground college scene looking for the next awkward, bleeding-heart Johnston with an electro-flair. Opener Chris Molla of Camper Van Beethoven warms up the freak-folk festivities.
"At times baffling, consistently visionary, this 12-inch is the definitive work of an as-yet-named genre wherein harsh noise and tender balladry are proven to be far more closely related than previously thought." - Portland Mercury (Top 6 local albums 2008) 5. Dragging an Ox through Water—The Tropics of Phenomenon On his first full-length-ish effort, ox-dragger Brian Mumford unexpectedly varnished the bruised-is-beautiful acoustic guitar work and hobo tenor trill at the center of his formidable live show with a thick coat of uncanny, pre-fab synth sounds and homemade, sputtering analog electronics. At times baffling, consistently visionary, this 12-inch is the definitive work of an as-yet-named genre wherein harsh noise and tender balladry are proven to be far more closely related than previously thought. ANP Quarterly Vol 2/ No 2:
Article on Chris Johanson's Awesome Vistas label. "The Tropics of Phenomenon" is pictured and mentioned.  "early
pop-country side of Arthur Russell covering Neutral Milk Hotel's In an
Aeroplane Over the Sea with just a broken guitar, a dented tuba, a
child's steel drum and a busted radio shack electronics kit," -
Aquarius Records
"As
Dragging an Ox through Water, Mumford has intuitively developed an
utterly coherent, strangely intelligible, private musical language, and
The Tropics of Phenomenon is its first fascinating vernacular novel." - Portland Mercury
Dragging an Ox through Waterby Cary Clarke
Brian Mumford is the dove-throated singer, fleet-fingered acoustic guitarist, amateur electrical engineer, and post-noise pioneer behind Portland's one-man experimental folk band Dragging an Ox through Water. When I asked him where the title of his new album, The Tropics of Phenomenon, comes from, he replied: "It actually appeared first in the song 'Devil's Prayer,' which is on the record. I guess it is about a person (who happens to be me) not locking [himself] into expectations, and not flipping out at the messiness of reality or at least being able to maintain focus. 'The Tropics of Phenomenon' is all the uncontrolled, unexpectable mess of what is actually encountered. Plus, it sounds funny." The titular line occurs about 45 seconds into "Devil's Prayer," when the preset-synth melody, strangely rubbery drum machine, and slightly off-key, thrift-store guitar that have perplexingly propelled the song this far suddenly fall down at the behest of a fuzzed-out bass tone, making way for Mumford's sure baritone to declare: "I will not be destroyed by the quest for faults. I will open my arms to the tropics of phenomenon." All of the sounds then drain away for a 30-second detour into what sounds like David Lynch's project room, before the sprightly steel drums return to give the rest of the instruments the "all clear," picking up right where they left off as if nothing happened. Within the utterly disorienting musical context in which it is delivered, Mumford's message of acceptance is directed to the listener as much as to himself. Things in The Tropics of Phenomenon are sometimes uncontrolled, unforeseeable, and untidy, but if taken for what they are—expectations be damned—they are also unimaginably lovely. Surprise is a key element in the Dragging an Ox listening experience, and it is usually the result of chance in the compositional process. On Tropics, more so than on past releases, and certainly more than in live performances, Mumford's interest in making and playing electronic instruments shares the spotlight with his ability as a guitar- and vocals-oriented writer of folk songs. Yet many of these homemade electronic instruments—such as the light-sensitive sound generator he built, which he plays by placing next to a flickering candle—are primarily a means of injecting chaos and unpredictability into Mumford's song craft, as is his use of feedback. Any doubts about this approach are laid to rest in the almost painfully beautiful eight-bar feedback-and-recorder drone solo at the heart of album highlight "Houses and Homonculi." Because of this aesthetic interaction, the songs on Tropics never come across as willfully weird or cheap pastiche, wherein noise is thinly juxtaposed with folk. Rather, sophisticated yet instantly memorable Appalachian steampunk guitar lines and vocal melodies organically sprout from and interweave with noisy oscillator interludes, and condemnations of US torture policy are crooned with the conviction and breadth of an expression of true love. As Dragging an Ox through Water, Mumford has intuitively developed an utterly coherent, strangely intelligible, private musical language, and The Tropics of Phenomenon is its first fascinating vernacular novel. There is a The Tropics of Phenomenon listening party on Thursday, October 2, at Valentine's, and Dragging an Ox through Water performs at Backspace on Saturday, October 4. "Layering
gorgeous acoustic picking beneath sheets of white noise, gurgling,
off-center electronics, and crackling tape hiss, they don't bury his
endearing, heart-tugging melodies as much as they enhance them." - Willamette Week
Budweiser Sprite, Why I Must Be Careful, Grouper (tape collage set), Dragging an Ox through Water, Magic Johnson[NOISE-DRENCHED FOLK] Brian Mumford's songs as Dragging an Ox Through Water usually aren't the most immediate things. Layering gorgeous acoustic picking beneath sheets of white noise, gurgling, off-center electronics, and crackling tape hiss, they don't bury his endearing, heart-tugging melodies as much as they enhance them. Many of the new songs on tonight's release, The Tropics of Phenomenon 12''—including the bouncing, centered "Snowbank Treatment" and the withering "Dice Smiles"—have a newfound narrative chug and form that rivals just about any songwriter in this city. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. 8 pm. Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave., 248-2900. Cover. All ages. Map"The
pairing of indie-rock legend Tara Jane ONeil and Dragging an Ox Through
Water makes so much sense it makes me feel like all is right in the
world." - Willamette Week
 Tara Jane ONeil, Dragging an Ox Through Water, Sad Horse, Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner, Dirty Mittens[DECONSTRUCTED POP] The pairing of indie-rock legend Tara Jane ONeil and Brian Mumford’s (usually solo) Dragging an Ox Through Water makes so much sense it makes me feel like all is right in the world. TJO’s dissonant guitar cuts through aural scenery like lightning with a crackling burst. DAOTW’s compositions for guitar, recorder and various electronic processes sound like a mutant race misinterpreting the blueprint for pop and yielding something infinitely more interesting. Experimental is a dubious and often foolishly brandished title, and though it may seem to fit here, it doesn’t. These artists aren’t experimenting—they are deconstructing, examining and reinventing music—and unlike the onanism involved in improvisational music, these two are better artists for being aware someone is listening. JIM SANDBERG. , 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. Labels:
willametteweek The Insider | M. BlashBy Alex Hawgood
The Insider is a recurring profile of emerging tastemakers in the fields of fashion, design, food, travel and the arts. Here the Portland, Ore., based filmmaker and artist M. Blash shares with The Moment a few of his stylish essentials. Blash, whose film “Lying” premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, has several drawings showing at the Quality Pictures gallery and is now working on his next film, “The Wait.” Name: M. Blash
Drawings by M. Blash. "Dragging an Ox Through Water finds enough twists, turns, and aural experiments to damn well bring one of the best shows in town." - Portland Mercury
DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER, ANNI ROSSI, BIRD
COSTUMES (Valentine's, 232 SW Ankeny) A one-man show can be a tricky proposition, but Brian Mumford's Dragging an Ox Through Water finds enough twists, turns, and aural experiments to damn well bring one of the best shows in town. A little bit noise, a little bit soul, a little bit freak-folk and a lot in between, Dragging an Ox can get a touch too noised-out at times, but the more stripped down tunes are damn near perfect—imagine Xiu Xiu on the safe side of the self-indulgence meter and you're on the right track. Rounding out this show are Chicago's Anni Rossi, carrying the sweet side, and relative newcomer Bird Costumes and his pocketful of noise. HANNAH CARLEN Labels:
mercury "profoundly moving, circuit-bending noise-folk" - Portland Mercury
My Top Five Local Shows of 2007by Cary Clarke
Though much of my year was invested in the ongoing debate, alternately uplifting and frustrating, over what age people should (not) have to be in order to see live music, the substantial amount of time that I spent actually attending local shows was overwhelmingly rewarding. What follows is a list of my five favorite local shows of the year, four of which I'm happy to note were all-ages. In the interest of fairness, I have not included any events with which I was affiliated, including sets from the 2007 PDX Pop Now! festival. I hope you saw some good ones this year, too. There were a lot of them. 1. Dragging an Ox Through Water— NE House Show (3/11/07) Prior to this daytime, potluck house show, my deep admiration for the profoundly moving, circuit-bending noise-folk of Brian Mumford, AKA Dragging an Ox through Water, was the exclusive product of time spent in private, basking in the warm, frayed-edge glow of his recorded output. Seeing Mumford play live for the first time, I was blown away. Though seated and motionless, save for the small stirrings of his string-plucking fingers, pedal-pushing feet, and glasses-readjusting nose, Mumford captivated the spellbound crowd more fully with his focus and calm than even the most talented of extrovert performers might have done with antics and flash. As it happens, Mumford does this regularly, but, hey, you never forget your first time.2. Menomena—Crystal Ballroom (1/28/07) While putting out the year's best album (in the form of Friend and Foe) was a major achievement for Menomena, we knew they were capable of it. Less expected, but perhaps even more hoped for by fans, was Menomena's transformation this year into a consistently top-notch live act. This free, all-ages album release show, where Menomena were accompanied by a massive choir of local voices (including some usually found in the Helio Sequence, Dat'r, and Boy Eats Drum Machine), was a public declaration that the avant-pop trio had overcome the demanding technical challenges of their eclectic live instrumentation and were now a force to be reckoned with on stage as well as on record. The resignedly triumphant a cappella moment at the center of this night's chorus-augmented "Rotten Hell" rendered the rest of the world momentarily irrelevant. 3. YACHT on a Yacht—Willamette River (5/5/07) By mustering the gumption and resources to stage the record release party for his album I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real. as an itinerant river-going adventure on an actual yacht, Portland's mantra-making, beat-birthing high priest of post-guitar punk positivity—Jona Bechtolt—made tangible the undeniable we-can-do-anything-together charm of the music he makes as YACHT. The PA overheating in a pillar of smoke as the jubilant crowd, decked out in captain's hats, passed the still-singing Bechtolt overhead along the 7-foot-high ceiling was classic YACHT. 4. Per Se & Leviethan—The Waypost (6/30/07) This show, attended by only one person other than myself due to a scheduling mix-up, was the ultimate testament to the talent and dedication of these two singer-songwriters, as well as to the depth and spirit of the Portland music community. Per Se and Leviethan played their short, unamplified sets with enough commitment, humor, and intelligence to make attendance figures immaterial, and to transfigure an empty café into an intimate chamber full of shared warmth. While these performances merited a full house, I felt lucky to be alone with the music. 5. The Joggers—Halleluwah Festival @ Holocene (8/31/07) One of only a handful of shows that my favorite Portland band played this year, this freewheeling set on the first night of the Halleluwah Festival answered my questions as to what exactly the Joggers have been doing for the two years since With a Cape and a Cane came out. The answer: writing songs every bit as technically rigorous, unselfconsciously joyous, and utterly unique as they ever have. Hearing this set felt like eavesdropping on the band at a particularly fun practice session. Labels:
mercury "Just as the comfortable woodsy contours of this sonic space begin to define themselves, they are violated by a barrage of feedback.." -Portland MercuryDragging an Ox through Waterby Cary Clarke
"When I was a little kid I made drawings of people and then drew wolf features on the other side of the paper so that when you held them up to the light they became werewolves," says Brian Mumford. The enormously talented, circuit-bending, acoustic guitar-plucking visionary of Tesla-damaged noise-folk who has played music under the name Dragging an Ox through Water since 2002—cites this wonderfully telling episode from his childhood as a precedent for his proclivities as a songwriter. As with his phantasmagorical preadolescent illustrations, Mumford makes songs that are fundamentally double-sided, created by the superimposition of two sets of forms. He will begin a typical Dragging an Ox through Water song by summoning forth a gorgeous, finger-picked ostinato from his trebly, jury-rigged guitar, and a deep, gently warbling melody from his chest. Just as the comfortable woodsy contours of this sonic space begin to define themselves, they are violated by a barrage of feedback that Mumford fires from his pedal board, or a madcap, seemingly arrhythmic, fuzzed-out arpeggio he has covertly built by pinning down a handful of keys on one of his toy keyboards, passing the signal through his effects array. While at first the chaotic noise threatens to overwhelm the delicate folk song with which it is colliding, Mumford keeps the sonic maelstrom in play just long enough for the serendipitous synergy between the two aesthetics—one experimental, one traditional—to reveal itself, before he silences the squall and brings his song to a haunting, graceful end. While in lesser hands this kind of tinkering would senselessly ruin an otherwise terrific little pop song, Mumford miraculously manages to navigate the space between noise and folk by trusting equally in chance and craft. The result is profoundly unique and moving music, akin to what a Leonard Cohen/Smegma collaboration might sound like. Dragging an Ox through Water is, in my opinion, absolutely one of the best bands going today. Live, Mumford is a mesmerizing performer, able to consistently win over diehard noise aficionados as well as pop purists with a single song. On record, his songs glow with a rich, homemade luster and benefit from an expanded, but never ostentatious, instrumentation, variously including recorder, drums, keyboards, vocal harmonies, and occasional whistling. Though we can look forward to a new Dragging an Ox through Water 12-inch in 2008, I still can't get enough of 2006's Rebukes! EP, which includes Mumford's intimate anthem "Aces," certainly among the best songs ever written in Portland. Dragging an Ox through Water plays at KPSU venue the Modern Age on Friday, November 16, at 8 pm. The show is open to music lovers of all ages on a sliding scale of $3-5 and also features Please Step out of the Vehicle, Bodhi, and Mattress. Labels:
mercury "Dragging
an Ox through Water songs don't sound like they were written. They
sound like they were planted—and then grown, against all odds—in a
nuclear fallout zone" - Willamette Week
8. Dragging An Ox Through Water: 24 pointsWho: Brian Mumford What: Experimental noise folk Sounds like: A dislocated Appalachian family busking in the city. Year formed: 2002 Most likely to be found: Peddling coffee at the Half & Half cafe or playing his ramshackle guitar (or doodling) at Valentine's. Favorite Portland band: Smegma Who he would have voted for: Xh, Bird Costumes, Argumentix, J. Dorothy Jones Voter quote: "Steeped with heart-on-sleeve singer-songwriter folk, belching and sputtering synth-drone, cut-up field recordings and even pop, Brian takes the best ideas across the entire underground and creates something unique, textured and at times darn catchy. His music weaves a complex tapestry of contrasting experimental approaches matted with moist clumps of risky sincerity. Undoubtedly, he is surfing the next wave—many contemporaries will be attempting to catch up soon." —James Squeaky, freelance music writer, performs as Argumentix, member of Alarmist, Below PDX Records founder
Dragging an Ox through Water songs don't sound like they were written. They sound like they were planted—and then grown, against all odds—in a nuclear fallout zone. Layers of seemingly randomized clicks, whirs and squeals attack virtually every moment of Brian Mumford's comparably gentle, country-tinged folk pop. I should note that Mumford and I go way back. The first time I saw him perform, he was playing angular, time-signature-crazy math rock in a band called Collectivo (which would later change its name to Chevron). Then, in the early days of Dragging an Ox, I watched Mumford take stages with his then-girlfriend, Martha Mosqueda (now frontwoman for Portland's Kiki). The two would sit uncomfortably close to one another while singing jaw-dropping harmonies on Mumford's "Bowl of Salt" and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Both songs also featured whistling solos. But that stripped-down and inescapably cute incarnation of Dragging an Ox through Water wasn't really representative of Mumford's preferred aesthetic. In recorded form, the pop aspects of the now-27-year-old's music have always been inextricable from its more dangerous-sounding, noise-rattled experimentalism. Sometimes the two elements even duel to the death, as on "Horror Toads," a song that places Mumford in the consecutive roles of a wobbly-turntable beat controller and wide-eyed neo-folk singer. But he emotes lines like "Drink some cough syrup and go out dancing" in an equally affecting manner under both guises. Such lines—and Mumford's unusual tendency toward addressing evolutionary science and emotional hardship in close proximity to one another (on "Wind Was Corner," he sings, "We are our bodies/ We are in love with one another")—can occasionally come across as attempts at humor. "It's not," he says thoughtfully, "but I think that it's OK that people interpret it that way." "Dragging an Ox is really private," adds the quick-witted songwriter. Most lyrics, he explains, are rough transcriptions from his own internal dialogues and dreams. So when these convoluted storylines resonate with listeners, he's both appreciative and befuddled—which is exactly what makes Mumford such a compelling musician. It's also what gives you the impression that, if Brian Mumford were the last man on earth, he'd probably still be in his basement, planting songs and watching them grow. CASEY JARMAN. MP3: "Aces," from Rebukes! 7-inch (Smells Delicious)
Extra Content: LocalCut's extended Q&A and "photo shoot" with Dragging an Ox through Water. Visit: dragginganox.org "an avant-noise, lo-fi, folky, buzzy excursion" - Portland Mercury WE QUIT, DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER, CHIN UP MERIWETHER! (Valentine's, 232 SW Ankeny) Brian Mumford is the auteur behind Dragging an Ox Through Water—an avant-noise, lo-fi, folky, buzzy excursion in electro-tinkering. Mumford, a Northwest boy who split for New York, returns to our rainy city with new material and the requisite stories of compartmentalization and subway vomit. Brian told us about his journeys: "I've written a good number of new songs since I've been here, but have only been recording really experimentally. I played a few really fun shows in NYC, and I also had the amazing opportunity to play around Denmark, Germany, France, Scotland, and England last month... I've also been getting more into building my own very primitive electrical instruments—mostly busted speakers and backward-wired transformers. I miss the living hell out of Portland. The plan all along was to live in New York for six months. I'm moving back. Time's just past up." Too bad for you New York, he's ours. ANDREW R. TONRY Labels:
mercury
"with the sexiest song I've heard in forever, Aces." - Portland Mercury
The Scene ReportBest Local Records of 2006by Adam Gnade
As a rule I've never been much for writing year-end top 10 lists—and confining Portland's massive onslaught of great local releases to such a small number is a crime worthy of some heavy punishment. Thus, I'm going to say eff it to the top 10 format and cram as many favorites as I can into these next few paragraphs. Ready? Go! Laura Gibson's If You Come to Greet Me was a nice, calm respite before winter hit. Same with Alela Diane's The Pirate's Gospel. Bark, Hide and Horn's EP is still stuck in my head months after it came out. (Especially "This Abdomen Has Flown.") I spent many hours submerged in White Rainbow's Box. The Artistery's live CD reminded me how lucky we are to live in Portland—and how talented Adrian Orange is. On again/off again Portlander Eva Saelens from Inca Ore (see Up and Comings, pg. 25.) wasn't living in Portland when her The Birds in the Bushes came out, but I'm still claiming her for us on the weird power of her experimental collages alone. (If Wolves in the Throne Room lived just a few miles south I'd add their Diadem of 12 Stars under the Inca Ore clause.) Valet droned me into outer space with Blood is Clean. The Kingdom's K1 was the best pop record of 2006. Argumentix (see Up and Comings pg. 25) dropped some nasty beauty on us, especially on the Bird Costumes collaboration, Armageddon... Maybe Later. Dragging an Ox Through Water gave us the spooky Rebukes! with the sexiest song I've heard in forever, Aces. (Then he fucking split for New York.) Ghost to Falco did experimental plus pop on Like this Forever. Plants dropped a record for every season, my favorite of which, Double Infinity, was the fall album. Horse Feathers' Words are Dead defined Portland folk music. Yellow Swans' Psychic Secession and the Drift EP did the same for Portland noise. Silentist's House on the Hill brought "the pain." The Better to See You With's self-titled record brought it too, but added "the punk." TheRabbits/Under Mountains split 12" was total rolling thunder. 31 Knots' Polemics EP was a great welcome back to a great group. Talkdemonic's Beat Romantic was the sound of a band coming into its own—which is always a good sound. What else? Who else? I know I'm missing something, and I know somebody's going to feel left out, but goddamn this was a packed year. I'm sure 2007 will be just as hot. Labels:
mercury "Piled sky-high with risk, somehow his clever lyrics and exquisite aesthetic really has the potential to cross a lot of musical boundaries and give something for anyone to enjoy." - Portland Mercury
DRUGS, BIRD COSTUMES, DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER, DJ NATE C (Tube, 18 NW 3rd) Approaching folk-pop from an experimental noise perspective (or perhaps vice versa), Brian Mumford, AKA Dragging an Ox Through Water, makes music that is pretty tricky to classify. Many of his songs loop simple acoustic guitar melodies and bludgeon their twinkling toes with warbling swells of oscillating synth and gated belching vocals that crack and peel in a thick web of mechanical, yet luminous love notes. His recent 7-inch/CD/EP rebukes! on Smells Delicious Records has at least two songs that perfectly capture feelings of desperate, lonely, introspective, and anxious. Piled sky-high with risk, somehow his clever lyrics and exquisite aesthetic really has the potential to cross a lot of musical boundaries and give something for anyone to enjoy. Highly recommended. JAMES SQUEAKY Labels:
mercury
Labels:
xlr8r blog people
DIM HOLYS - IS THERE HEAT RISING IN YOUR NECK - OSM-B 011
Brian Mumford's bliss-drones for sleeping. Brian has an amazing talent for turning harsh digital noise and homemade synthesizer howl into music that hits on a very emotional and intuitive level, which is what makes both Dragging an Ox and Dim Holys such remarkable projects. Really beautiful art by Dana Dart McLean. $5 "Mumford
is not merely a genius song crafter but cavernous sound engineer. These
songs are mortally infused with an electronic pulse that propels them
into a realm of ancient, mythical robotics."
 Dragging An Ox Through WaterThe Tropics of Phenomenon (04.2009, Freedom To Spend) RIYL = Kurt Weisman, Ursula Bogner, complete awesomeness This...now this is something. Like whoa! My updates have been sparse as of the last couple weeks and are likely to continue to be so for a couple more as I finish out this semester. Oh man, Summer has been a long time coming huh? Well I had to break this little silence, if only momentarily for what is quite possibly the most ridiculously radical (= ridiculous, right Grant?) record I have heard in more than just a little while. Wowza. Seriously, I can’t stop pressing repeat. This is going to sustain me through finals and beyond for certain. So, what/who is it? Dragging An Ox Through Water is the official moniker of Portland resident, Brian Mumford. Apparently, the Awesome Vistas label in Portland snuck The Tropics of Phenomenon out secretly last year to the exasperatedly positive response of the local Portland scene, but with little other adulation to speak of. Now, Pete Swanson (formerly of the mighty Yellow Swans) has seen fit to re-release the album on his label, Freedom To Spend, as a compact disc, and thank goodness for that. My heavens, this is too good for words and my particular case of words are so shot and tired. The first thing you should know about Dragging An Ox Through Water, I suppose, is that he is a sorcerer. You are dealing with magic here. At the core of these little pockets of sorcery lie the most simplistic and beautiful of outsider pop balladry, of bizarre Americana and fragile, freakish folk. All on their lonesome, these gems would shine a country mile in every direction. The core is strong and unique, in the same vein as, say, Joanna Newsom or Neutral Milk Hotel. However, Mr. Mumford is not merely a genius song crafter but cavernous sound engineer. These songs are mortally infused with an electronic pulse that propels them into a realm of ancient, mythical robotics. It colours the album in the most enchantingly peculiar way and lifts Mumford’s simple bedroom string pluckery into a whole 'nother realm. And from what I understand, the whole things is orchestrated by Mumford’s own hands. Heaved atop of his acoustic meandering, Dragging An Ox Through Water feels more like dragging an acoustic guitar through an old-world toy store and then an analog electronics shop and then a mechanical bird aviary and then the fifth dimension. And it is so awesome! If you could only see the grin on my face as I type this. I can’t help it. The Tropics of Phenomenon is so gorgeous and atonal and bizarre and exciting, I can’t contain myself. The oscillating purrs! The noisy chirps! The broken Casios! I have just come to a resolution: a deal with you the readers, as it were. I am going to post this little inept review and leave it up until I’m done with school. This album needs to be at the very top of the Forest Gospel blog posts for at least a couple of weeks. The thing is, why move onto to something else? The Tropics of Phenomenon is something to savor, something to fully and completely indulge. Don’t worry about all the Grizzly Bears and Dirty Projectors and other, similarly hyped nonsense out there in the blogosphere. Sure, those records are all fairly good, but none of those upcoming records match the utterly refreshing pulse that flows through this record. Dragging An Ox Through Water slays that stuff. So, The Tropics of Phenomenon isn’t likely to become the next Pitchfork poster child (they seem to be getting more and more offbase by the minute), but I assure you, if you want to hear some real magic, if you want to hear some real audio sorcery, something truly enchanting and transportative, something that is actually worth your hard earned recession bills - it is most certainly this. I can barely even remember what else has come out this year when I'm listening to this. So, so good. Well, enjoy, and see you in a couple of weeks. -Lil' Thistle  The show last night was that edge of bathtime where you're emotional, flushed, ready to get out. With the ripples of the water lapping on the edges, and the sulfur bath salts stinging your skin and the wet hairs slapped to your back it's hard to lift your head up. I cried in this tapped moment of cosmic loneliness; a space between so many worlds of comprehension and viscerality. His vocals have become another planet, his noise a transition between nostalgic and learned dimensions, the guitar like a gust of wind blown directly into your mouth. Brian Mumford is a composer and gardener. I feel so blessed to have played a show with him. Expressway To My Skull: 2008 Round Up. We. Are. Done.
planobsolete.blogspot.com/2009/01/2008-round-up-we... Cargo Records Distribution UK: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER
cargorecords.blogspot.com/2009/01/exclusive-interv... Good Times Santa Cruz | Dragging An Ox Through Water | Mumford, Steal, Could, Underground, College
www.gtweekly.com/20090113326095/blurbs/events/drag... raceOregon: The Five Best Training Albums For 2009
raceoregon.blogspot.com/2009/01/five-best-training... I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master: Unrelated
rageacrossindonesia.blogspot.com/2008/12/unrelated... "The Tropics Of Phenomenon" stretches further in every direction he reached on Rebukes (and before). The pretty songs are sweeter, the noise breaks are longer and noisier, and the lyrics.. are all newly devastating."
Dragging an Ox Through Water The Tropics of Phenomenon:
I probably played this five times this year. But this record will sit
around and continue to sound good. I can imagine pulling this out in
ten years and thinking about 2008 and some shit like this, just one
guy's view of a specific place and time. which will be excellent.
:: Hollow Earth Radio :: » Blog Archive » Allan of Dream Maps Shares His Top Ten for 2008
www.hollowearthradio.org/blog/2008/12/17/allan-of-... Pop Headwound: 2008 In Review, Vol. 6 - Forest Fire
popheadwound.blogspot.com/2008/12/2008-in-review-v... "the pangs of reality and lust are as taut as the guitar strings" - Willamette Week
Dragging An Ox Through Water, “Aces,” Rebukes! 7″
There are plenty of times I’ve been urged to pursue lyrics to songs in an effort to fully understand the emotions put forth or the motivation behind creating the track in the first place. If it’s not in an entry on the band’s MySpace page it’s very unlikely to be found elsewhere. Thankfully, that isn’t the case for “Aces” thanks to the site Music for Dozens. In “Aces,” the pangs of reality and lust are as taut as the guitar strings Brian Mumford plucks. I’d been able to read the impassioned contempt regardless of consequence in the line: “Am I gonna be held to the fire for wishing your boyfriend dead?” And a lot can be gathered from his delivery alone, but it wasn’t enough for me to understand the full concept of “Aces.” Luckily on MFDZ, not only are the full lowercase lyrics laid out by Mumford, but an instant explanation as well:
Opening with a gasp, the tales begins:
Links: Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell Labels:
willametteweek "like if P.K Dick did a version of deliverance"
Wednesday, 3 September 2008Dragging An Ox Through Water - Rebukes I
had this a while ago I think but I stumbled on it on Itunes again today
and its really great, its like these amazing country/folk songs sewn
together with odd electronic sounds that give the whole thing a bizarre
texture that somehow still manages to sound rural or rustic or whatever
(this is no mean feet considering the album features the sounds of
electro handclaps), the whole thing flows like a river, its evokes this
image of songs being sung on a swamp boat, but like if P.K Dick did a
version of deliverance. It's
rare that a band actually sounds like their names suggests they might.
I'm really into this release and can't wait to check out their other
outings. Get It HERE Buy It HERE Stalk Them HERE
Labels:
Dragging An Ox Through Water,
Folk,
Rebukes
Allen Ginsberg In Space: dragging an ox through water ep
allenginsberginspace.blogspot.com/2008/04/dragging... :: Hollow Earth Radio :: » Blog Archive » Allan of Dream Maps Shares His Top Ten for 2008
www.hollowearthradio.org/blog/2008/12/17/allan-of-... remains of the gay: 1/16: "J-----'s screenname is 'Locofourloko.'" (i.e. enough time for
remainsofthegay.blogspot.com/2009/01/116-j-s-scree... -Last night I went to see Dragging an Ox Through Water, a local one man band I've liked since mid-high school and haven't seen since then. As a matter of fact, the first house show I ever went to was Brian's other band, Cheveron, at a somewhat legendary Eugene house venue called My House, run by Marc Moscato, who later got me a job at Microcosm; but that is neither here nor there. In addition to playing a quietly awesome set and being totally down with my "I was a big fan of yours in high school and you know my friend Barton" spiel while I was buying a 7", Brian Mumford is also exactly how I want to (and expect to) look like once I go on testosterone. The headlining band, though, was called Firetruck: the lead singer/keyboardist was a guy I thought was cute in 9th grade, and they sounded like Le Tigre with boys. I danced really hard with a lot of ex-The United People's Art Club kids from that era, did the David Archer patented Wuthering Heights dance, and dropped it like it was hot probably a little too often.
Siltblog: Look Hard, This Might Hurt....Catching Up With The Awesome Vistas Label
siltblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/look-hard-this-might... Dragging An Ox Through Water-The Tropics Of Phenomenon (Av-07)
GF; (uncorking a magnum of malt duck) Aye, this isn't bad, a one man affair is it? PF; (holding plastic champagne flute, looking at insert) I thought ya meant the bubbly (laughs). I reckon it is, hard to read this blasted fine print. Ya, here it says 'all instruments, etc, by Brian'. GF; (pours & fills 2 flutes, they clink glasses) I'd say he owe's a bit to Mayo Thompson's 'Cory's Debt To His Father' lp. PF; (lights cigarette, downs malt duck, pours a Jameson) Your onto something, I do declare. Sounds like he's a bit of an experimenter. radio
the twenty-something beer snob: I hold the mic
wastingawayagaininmargaritaville.blogspot.com/2009... Dragging
Playlist for Shrunken Planet with Jeffrey Davison - December 13, 2008
wfmu.org/playlists/shows/29625 Labels:
wfmu Labels:
wfmu misc
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DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER
